Book Review: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

GENRE & SYNOPSIS

Classic/Science Fiction/Dystopia/Feminism

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…

RATING & REVIEW

★★★★☆/5

I have been intrigued by this book ever since I heard about it, and then I saw the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale (HBO series), and I just fell in love with this world and the characters. So I knew I had to read the book and dive further into it.

This book, The Handmaid’s Tale, is so graphical and stunning that I don’t even know where to begin. It took me some time to get into it, not because it was boring or anything like that, but because of the writing style. It’s very different from what I’m used to. The Handmaid’s Tale goes into the darkest types of emotion, and the darkest types of thoughts of a woman.

I was so angry when I read it. I rarely feel like a book is politically making me angry. This book is somewhat similar to Eden (by G. C. Julien and Ash-J) because it takes up the fact that in the US and a lot of other places, women aren’t allowed to decide over their own bodies. And The Handmaid’s Tale just brings that up, and kind of shows us the consequences of what can happen when you use people in the most physically and emotionally gruesome way.

To kind of tune into Offred’s thoughts and emotions was sometimes just horrible. Because it was so real. My immediate thought was that if this was happening to me, I would probably react in the same way.

The Handmaid’s Tale scared me, it provoked me, and it made me angry. It did what I expect from a book, and I think that it proves how incredibly talented Margaret Atwood is. But at the same time I felt kind of unsatisfied when the book was over. The Handmaid’s Tale is such a masterpiece, and I seriously recommend it to everyone who like dystopia, and who likes seriously bad ass heroines.